Double Double Toil and Trouble A Marauders Tale
by BrightEyesMagic
Summary: "Not bad," she said, "My 1st day back and I've already gotten detention and persecuted a Slytherin."  James grinned and bowed to her, "Praise the almighty Alex." Sirius laughed, and did the same.    SiriusXOC, Slight JamesXOC & RemusXOC,JamesXLily
1. Back to Hogwarts

Double Double Toil and Trouble A Marauders Tale

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the Marauders, or Hogwarts. However, Alex, Nicole, and the other original characters in this story plus the story itself are mine._

1: Back to Hogwarts

"Hogwarts!" Alex shouted skipping through King Cross Train station school trunk in tow. "Hogwarts! Hoggy Warty Hogwa-Yow!" She exclaimed as someone yanked at her hair. "What was that for Nicole?" She asked her sister.

"You were being annoying," Nicole replied smartly. "So I decided to take it upon myself to shut you up. You are fifteen years old, and you still insist on acting like you're three."  
>"I insist because I must," Alex smiled "Who else would torment you as I do. We might actually be normal without me and Merlin knows we wouldn't want that."<p>

"Behave Alex," Nicole snapped.

"Why should I?"

"Alexandria Silvana Procyon Scalacchi listen to you sister," Their mother said. Her voice was soft, but stern.

"You're _elder_ sister," Nicole said.

"Only by eight minutes!" Alex said exasperated.

"Alex," her father warned. His dark eyes met hers through his, even darker, hair. Hair Alex had inherited. Nicole looked decidedly more like their mother, with her blonde curly hair. She also had her father's height. The one trait that Alex failed to receive. Both had their mother's bright blue eyes.

"Why I'm I always in trouble? What about Nicole?" Alex asked.

"Nicole doesn't do anything wrong," was her mother's haughty reply. "We have no reason to scold her."

"Well I have reason!" Alex exclaimed. "Nicolette Cecile Adhara Scalacchi you are in trouble for... Being selfish goody-two-shoes, and not adoring my geniusness."

Nicole grunted, but did nothing more. It was true, after all. Despite her immaturity Alex, lazy troublesome Alex did very well in school. Nicole hated her for it. She worked twice as hard to get the same grades that Alex got without trying.

"We're here" she said and hurried through the brick barrier to Platform 9 3/4. Antonio and Katarina (their parents) followed, and Alex dragged along behind them. She took a deep breath before stepping threw the bricks.

"Take care Lexi, sweetheart," her father said hugging her tightly, and she smiled.

"I'll miss you dad," she whispered to him, but still she was excited to get back to Hogwarts and her friends. They had to catch up after a whole summer apart.

Absentmindedly hugging her mother, Alex thought about the fun they would have pulling pranks. She was already forming a plan as she and Nicole boarded the train.

By the time they reached an empty compartment, it involved giant frogs, and an excessive amount of Jam.

Alex pulled out blank parchment and began to write her ideas down. Nicole sat next to her, looked at what she was writing, and sighed when she realized it was in the symbolic writing Alex had invented for this exact reason.

"You're already plotting some horrible stunt? We're not even at the school and you're already planning your expulsion."  
>"It's not a horrible stunt; it's a work of art," Alex said without looking up "And I haven't gotten expelled yet."<p>

At that exact moment the compartment doors flew open, and two boys came tumbling in laughing hysterically. Alex didn't bother to look up, but Nicole did. She eyed them both with interest, but then realized they were Alex's friends James and Sirius. Still they were quite handsome. James, the taller of the two was lanky with chocolate brown eyes, and very untidy black hair. Sirius, had hair as dark as Alex's that fell in front of his sparkling blue-gray eyes with a casual elegance. He was probably the most handsome male at Hogwarts.

"That was bloody brilliant James," Sirius said as he finally regained some composure. Despite his popularity with most of the girls at Hogwarts Nicole had always hated Sirius. She nudged Alex in the ribs hoping to get her attention. Alex ignored the poke and continued to stare at the parchment in front of her. James looked up and seemed to notice them for the first time.

"Well hello," he said, straightening. "haven't seen you in a while."

"We spent the Holiday in Venezia," Nicole replied smiling sweetly. Sirius snapped up at the mention of Venice. Nicole resisted the urge to glare at him. "Alexandria, you do realize your friends are here," she motioned to the girl huddled up beside her.

"It's Alex," she snapped. "Alexandria sounds like some boring historical figure, who did absolutely nothing worthwhile, and died surrounded by wilting flowers," Alex's head had yet to lift, and she was still scribbling away. "I on the other hand intend to live an adventurous and danger filled life, and when I die I will be surrounded by Chocolate Roses and Filibuster's Fireworks."

"I missed this girl," Sirius said grinning down at her.

"What are you doing?" James asked Alex.

"Scheming," Turning to her sister she asked in Italian. "Etta? If I were to drown the entire school in jam would you prefer grape or strawberry?"

"Neither," Nicole replied also in Italian. "I'd prefer you didn't drown the school."

"Sorry, not an option," Alex chirped, referring back to English. "What about you boys? Would you rather spend the day swimming through grape je—" Alex stopped mid-sentence as she finally looked up at Sirius as if just realizing he was there.

The door opened once again, and two more boys entered the compartment, followed by a small girl. Nicole and James turned to look at them. One boy had honey colored hair with eyes to match. Nicole thought he could be quite the looker if he wasn't so sickly, but for some reason she could not remember his name. The second boy was about a foot shorter than Alex and reminded Nicole of a rodent the way his nose narrowed and how his tawny curls stuck to his head. Peter, right? The girl had the same chocolate brown eyes as James, and her long hair was a similar color except it was smoother and better managed, which would make her his younger sister, Lauren.

The shabby boy, Remus that was his name, opened his mouth as if to speak, but James shook his head and nodded toward the still dumbstruck figures. They all turned back as Alex spoke at last.

"Sirius!" Alex jumped from her seat, her plans dropping to the floor, as she tackled Sirius in a bone-crushing hug. Sirius smirked as he fell onto the seat behind him Alex on top of him.

"Miss me?" he asked, hugging her back just as tightly.

"Of course I missed you, git. Who else would help me torture Nicole?"

"James" Nicole replied, glaring at them.

"Yeah," Alex sighed letting go of Sirius and moving to James. "But James is a loser."

"Hey," James glared, but lifted his mate off the floor in a bone-crushing hug.

Nicole nodded turning to Sirius, "Where's Reggie?"

He glared, "I'm not my brother's keeper," he spat. "Find him yourself."

"Fine we will. Come on Alex," Nicole turned back when she realized her sister was now hugging Remus. "Come on Alex."

"No thank you. I'd rather stay here," Alex replied cheerfully ruffling Peter's hair. "Tell him I said hi though."

Nicole glared at Sirius as though it were his fault before stomping out of the room.

Alex smiled, "Well now that _she's _gone, how were your guys' summers?"

"Dull" Sirius stooped down and hugged her tightly again. She wrapped an arm around his neck and reached for James who joined.

"Of course it was. I wasn't there," she said as the door to the compartment came bursting open for the third time that day.

"Alex!" The poor girl was tackled to the floor in a strangling embrace. The boys thought she was being attacked, and pulled the culprit off. Then they saw who it was.

"Rebecca," Remus greeted.

"Stones!" Sirius and James crushed her in a bear hug.

"Bex!" Alex exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "Let her go you morons."

James and Sirius released their grip, and the girls embraced in another tight hug, giggling like two years olds.

Alex woke at 5:30 the next morning. Sighing, she stood. It would be nice to sleep in just once, but it would never happen. Years of early morning training had seen to that. First, it had been combat training. Antonio insisted his daughters needed to be able to defend themselves without magic. So, since the age of four Alex had been waking at 5:30. She would have stopped when she started school, but she got into Quidditch, and her captain insisted his team was in top shape. Early morning runs and practice sessions took the place of combat training. Alex now dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, pulled her hair back, and decided she'd go on a run. It had been burned into her, and she might as well use it.

Alex had returned and taken a shower before Bex had woken. When she did wake, the two girls dressed and headed down to breakfast where they met the guys.

"Hello lovelies," Alex grinned as she sat down. "Sleep well" The marauders who were not morning people grunted responses, as McGonagall handed out their schedules. Alex scanned over hers.

Bex leaned over and read Alex's schedule. "I don't have Runes or Care of Magical Creatures. All our other classes are together though."

Alex grinned at her and glanced at the boys' schedules. She was glad to see that she had at least one of them in each of her classes, and all four in most. Lauren was a third year, and therefore wasn't in any of their classes, but Alex was sure to see plenty of her once Quidditch practices started.

"Oi, James." He grumbled a response between bites of toast. "Aren't you Quidditch captain this year?"

"You bet," he grunted, and Alex grinned. "Tryouts are next Saturday," he looked up at her, Sirius, and Lauren who had all been on the team last year.

"As you all know this fifth year is O.W.L. year," Professor McGonagall said grimly in their first transfiguration class of the year. "You cannot pass an O.W.L. without serious application, practice and study. Everyone in this has the potential to achieve an O.W.L. in Transfiguration so long as they put in the work," Peter made a small disbelieving noise. "Yes, Mr. Pettigrew, you too... Therefore, today you will be attempting Vanishing Spells. These are among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L,"

She had not been lying. By the end of the double period, only eight people had made any progress. Lily Evans was the only person to vanish it completely. Alex smiled as she handed McGonagall what remained of her snail: half its shell. "Not bad, Ms. Scalacchi, but I suggest you practice before Wednesday"

"Not bad!" James exclaimed as they walked out of the classroom. "You did better than I did!"

"We all know how easy that is," Bex teased, but truth be told James was very good at Transfiguration.

"Hey at least I didn't…" Whatever it was James didn't do he was cut off by Sirius who nudged him and pointed to a pallid, greasy haired boy who was scuttling past them down the hall. He walked up to Lily Evans and they started talking energetically about something as they turned the corner.

"Snivellus!" James growled. "What is he doing with Evans?"

"Talking by the looks of it," Alex replied cheerfully. Whistling a strange tune to herself, she stared down at the schedule. "DADA's next with... Professor Birch."

"Wonder what he's like," James said. They had not had a DADA teacher any longer than a year.

"I don't think it really matters," Sirius snickered watching Alex skipping along in front of them. "I bet he doesn't last past Christmas."

"I'll take that bet," Remus said. "Usual terms,"

Sirius nodded and they shook on it.

"Sirius!" A group of giggling girls rushed over greeting him and asking him how his holidays. There was about ten of them from various years. They all wore the same heart shaped badge with the initials S.B. flashing yellow.

"Oh look it's the fan girls," Alex whispered to Bex. She grinned as she watched the girls swarm Sirius. "What do you say we mess with them a bit?" She asked unbuttoning the top buttons on her shirt. She batted her eyelashes imitating the girls, and said in a mock breathless voice. "Ooo Sirius Black! He is such a hunk!"

Bex rolled up her skirt two inches, and they rushed over to him, giggling like maniacs.

"Hey Sirius!" Alex called, still batting her eyes, as she linked arms with him.  
>Bex did the same on his other side. "Want to go, like—<p>

"To Hogsmead, like-"

"With us, like-"

"Next weekend."

Sirius' fan girls glared, as Alex and Bex pulled him into the DADA classroom. Once inside they dropped his arms and had to use the desks as support they were laughing so hard. James, Remus and Peter, who had been watching the entire scene, all joined in.

Alex laughed the hardest of all, and when she finally composed herself, she realized that most of the guys in the classroom were staring, and not at her face.  
>"What?" Alex snapped slapping James and Sirius on the back of the head. "Are you all staring at?"<p>

Most of the guys turned away. Remus blushed. James and Sirius kept staring though.

"Well?" Alex put her hand on her hips.

"Um nothing," Sirius said averting his gaze to the floor. He was not usually ashamed of eyeing girls, but with Alex it was different. She was his mate, not some fan girl.

James did not seem to feel as guilty. He just grinned finally looking at her face. "You really grew up this summer Lex."

Finally realizing what they had been staring at Alex buttoned her shirt back up. As she walked to her seat, she slapped James playfully on the shoulder. He grinned and took the seat next to her.


	2. Pillow Fights, Presents, and Pranks

Double Double Toil and Trouble A Marauders Tale

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the Marauders, or Hogwarts. However, Alex, Nicole, and the other original characters in this story plus the story itself are mine._

2: "Pillow Fights, Presents, Pranks and Sappy Optimism" Not Necessarily in That Order

Professor Birch was a forgetful, nervous teacher who seemed to think it was easier to teach all his classes the same thing than come up with a different class plan for every year. Consequently, for their first lesson he brought in Grindylows, and started to lecture the class about them.

"Professor?" Lily Evans hand rose into the air.

"Yes Ms... Evart?" Birch asked in his dry voice.

"Evans," she corrected. "We studied Grindylows in third year."

Bex grinned and whispered something to Alex, who nodded.

"Well-"

Alex let out a shriek, cutting Birch off. "Those poor creatures, look they're drowning," she pointed her wand at the tank, and it exploded spilling the Grindylows onto the ground in front of Professor Birch.

"Twenty points from..," Professor Birch squinted trying to see through the water that was pouring down his face.

"Slytherin!" Alex provided, happily.

"Slytherin and detention Ms..."

"Scalacchi, Nicole Scalacchi."

"Detention Ms. Scalacchi."

"Nicole will be furious," Sirius chuckled as they entered the great hall for lunch. "Then again she has no way to prove it was you."

"And Birch probably doesn't even remember giving out the detention," Alex smirked, spotting the others. She and Sirius headed toward them. "Still I don't think I did too badly," she said as they sat down. "My first day back and I've already gotten a detention and persecuted a Slytherin."

"Praise the almighty Alex," James grinned and bowed to her. Sirius laughed, and did the same. She stood up as the others joined in. Eventually the entire Gryffindor table was chanting her name. McGonagall had to come and shush them.

When she walked away, Alex sat down and turned to the guys. "So you excited for tonight?" the question was met by bemused looks. "Oh come on you can't have forgotten our annual sleep out. You know the one where we sleep under the stars after our first day of classes, and blow off all our homework in favor of a much better way to spend our time: eating stolen food, and swapping presents. You can't have forgotten presents," she said a little hurt when they were still staring at her.

The guys exchanged a look and burst out laughing. "We didn't forget, Lexi," James said kissing her cheek as she pouted childishly.

After Astronomy that night the marauders sat on the top of the Gryffindor tower. James and Alex had stumbled upon the entrance to a room at the top of the tower in their second year. In their fourth Sirius found the panel that slipped loose so they could climb onto the roof. In all the years before they had slept out on the grounds. Alex decided she liked this better.

She and Remus had managed to conjure up several mattresses that they pushed together in the center of the tower. Sirius and James had been in charge of food and they had outdone themselves. All the treats Alex had ever heard of were surrounding the mattresses. It seems they had even managed to filch some fire whiskey. Bex and Lauren came climbing through the hole in the floor, blankets and pillows trailing them magically.

"Don't touch those yet," Bex snapped at Peter who was munching on a treacle tart. Peter looked ashamed, but continued to snack.

"Relax Stones," James said grabbing a tart himself. "Tonight's about having fun," he winked at her.

Lauren rolled her eyes and Bex flicked her wand so one of the pillows behind her flew forward and hit James in the face.

He glared and threw the pillow back, but Bex dodged and it hit Alex in the back of the head instead.

She turned, grabbed the felonious pillow and searched for the offender. When no one volunteered, she whacked the closest person, Sirius, on the back of the head.

"Hey" he flung the pillow back at Bex, which of course started an all-out war.

After about a half hour, the pillows were in shreds, feathers drifting away into the night. The friends had collapsed onto the mattresses overcome with laughter. If there had been anyone to witness it, the image would have been hilarious.

Finally, the group stopped laughing and Bex asked, "What are we going to do about the pillows?" This brought the others to hysterics again.

"Honestly Bex," Alex fought back giggles. "Sometimes I actually think you've forgotten your witch," she clapped her hands and the feathers flew back into their newly mended fabric.

The rest of the group stopped laughing to stare at her. "How long have you been able to do unspoken magic?" Remus asked.

"Since I was about three, Moony, it's the simplest magic there is."

"She's got a point," Bex commented. "It's controlling it that's hard?"

"Alright how long have you been doing that?"

Alex shrugged. "Since third year… I've been doing wand less magic since last term started. Have you really not noticed?"

James scanned her. "I don't think we've ever seen you use it before."

Alex cocked her head to the side, thinking. "I guess I don't use it in public often."

"Not really," Sirius told her.

She shrugged and jumped into the center of their pile of bodies. "Present time!"

It was nearly one in the morning, and most of the group had fallen asleep. Only Alex, James, and Sirius were still up, huddled in a circle on Alex's mattress examining their gifts.

"This is the coolest thing ever!" Alex whispered, staring at the top spinning in midair in front of her. It was a scrying tool. If she concentrated on something concrete, it would lead her right to it. "I'm never gonna lose anything again."

James smiled. "I'm glad you like it. It has its limitations though," he told her. "If the object or person is hidden by an enchantment then the top won't be able to find it."

"Still, very useful," Alex said.

"So are these," James held up the mirror she had gotten him. Sirius had the matching one. They were two-way mirrors the boys could use to communicate.

"Thanks for the supplies as well" she gestured to the huge pile of Zonko's merchandise that was her gift from Sirius and Remus. "I'll be sure to put them to great use."

"We figured you'd want to start the year off with a bang," Sirius said.

"Oh I do," Alex assured him. "Would you care to hear how?"

The next morning at breakfast Alex, James, and Sirius sat and waited impatiently, staring up at the staff table. Halfway through the meal one of the teachers let out a huge shriek. James and Sirius could not control themselves and instantly burst out laughing. Professor Birch was staring down at his meal in disgust. Dozens of frogs were suddenly leaping out of his plate.

The sight of him trying to swat them away sent Alex over the edge. A smile crept onto her face and soon she was laughing harder than James and Sirius. Many other students in the hall joined them.

McGonagall made the frogs disappear with a wave of her wand, and her glare put an end to a majority of the laughter. Alex and a few other students were still snickering slightly, but nothing that warranted any further attention from McGonagall. She returned to her seat and Birch to his meal, though he was still visibly shaken.

Sirius smirked at Remus. "I do believe I'll be winning that bet of ours," he said.

Remus shook his head smiling slightly. Bex smiled as well, but shook her head.

"I can't believe you singled him out like that," she said to Alex.

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked mocking innocence.

"Like anyone else would have come up with an idea that cruel," Bex said her smile widening.

"For your information we didn't know which teacher's plate we'd rigged," Alex told her, smiling back. "Not that Sirius, James or I was in anyway involved in this ridiculous stunt."

"Of course not, pulling such a horrid stunt on a teacher is beneath us," James said.

More screams filled the hall, this time coming from the Slytherin table. All of the jam was expanding at an incredible rate. It had practically incased the entire table, by the time Slughorn had even gotten down from the staff table to deal with the problem.

"That" Sirius grinned charmingly at Bex. "We might have been involved in."

Alex laughed. It was good to be back with friends.

Alex was so glad to be back that even the large amount of homework assigned the next day did not put her in bad spirits. The same could not be said about the marauders.

"Maybe we should have done our homework last night," Sirius groaned at lunch.

"Did I just hear Sirius Black say he should've done his homework?" Bex asked Alex, who placed a hand on his forehead.

"You feelin' alright?" she teased

"Who are you and what've you done with my best mate?" Sirius glared as James stared at him.

"We have tonight to finish homework," Alex reminded him.

"Yeah… We may even have time for a little extra studying," James gave her a meaningful look.

"Okay now I know something is wrong," Bex said. "You three study? Remus, please tell me their joking."

"They're joking," he said over the top of _A History of Magic._

"How can you read that?" Alex asked to change the subject. "It's so boring."

"Some people actually care about learning," Lily Evans said passing them "Instead of just playing cruel tricks on teachers."

"No one gives a crap what you care about Evans!" Alex growled at her. "I'd rather be a prankster than a bossy stuck up know-it-all anyway," she muttered the last part to Sirius as Lily walked away.

He snorted, and seemed less worried about homework.

Remus gave her a stern look though.

"Don't start," she told him. They had discussed her dislike of Lily before. "It's not like I hate her for no reason. The feeling is mutual."

He sighed and went back to his book.

'_Well it's true' _Alex thought bitterly. Lily found her abrasive, immature, and annoying; and Alex thought Lily was, as she had said, a bossy stuck up know-it-all.

Even though the homework had not been enough to get Alex in a bad mood, her encounter with Lily was. All she lacked the usual bounce in her step, and the marauders were slightly surprised by the lack of words coming from her mouth. To make things worse their last class of the day was Potions, Alex's worst and least favorite subject. Of course, Lily was more brilliant in that class than any other, which just irritated Alex even more.

"Really Lex, why do you care so much?" Remus asked as they made their way up to the Gryffindor tower. "It's not like you to worry about grades."

Alex glared at him. "It has nothing to do with her being smarter than me, which she's not. It's just the way she acts as if she's the better person. I don't need people telling me how much I should improve. I get enough of _that _from my mom. Beside I like myself just the way I am."

"So do we," Bex said soothingly.

"Yeah," James agreed slinging his arm around her shoulder. "You're cool like this."

Sirius grinned, copying James motion. "No improvement needed."

Alex beamed, feeling ten times better. She wrapped her arms around her friends' waists. "Thanks."

"Anytime," James said.

"What're friends for?" said Sirius.

"Pillow fights, presents, pranks, and sappy optimism," Alex and Bex quoted cheerfully.

"You know what?" Alex, continued, "I think we need T-shirts that say that."

This got laughs from the rest of the group.


	3. Working Hard and Hardly Speaking

Double Double Toil and Trouble A Marauders Tale

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the Marauders, or Hogwarts. However, Alex, Nicole, and the other original characters in this story plus the story itself are mine._

3: Working Hard and Hardly Speaking

Alex yawned and leaned back into James' pillow. The book she was reading lay open in her lap. James who was sitting on the other side of the bed kicked her.

"No falling asleep," he said, "The full moon is in two weeks, and we have to master this by then."

"I know I know," she muttered, opening her eyes, and sitting up. "But we stayed up late last night, so I'm already behind on my sleep."

Remus, who was sitting at his desk across the room from them, turned his chair so he was facing them. "Maybe we should stop for the night. We're all exhausted and I'm still not sure this is a good idea"

"You don't have to be sure it's a good idea," Sirius said, lifting the book he had been covering his eyes with, instead of reading. "But I agree we've done enough for now. In a couple days I think we'll be ready to attempt the transformation."

"Well some of us anyway," James glanced at Peter who was snoring loudly from his bed in the corner.

"Well that's decided. We'll try again tomorrow," Alex lay back down and buried her face into a pillow. "For now good night."

Remus glared, "Oh no… You are not staying the night in here. We will never hear the end of it."

"What are you talking about?" Alex grunted.

"Every time you stay the night in here Lily throws a fit," Sirius reminded her.

"Good for her"

"Bad for us," Remus said. "Last time she threatened to tell McGonagall."

"That was last year," Alex reasoned. "I'm sure she's forgotten."

"Rem's right," James said. "We don't want Evans mad at us."

"No" Alex corrected, standing up and collecting her books; "you don't want her mad at you," With that she left.

Sirius groaned. "If she's in a bad mood tomorrow I'm going to kill you two."

"It's better than us getting in trouble," Remus said at the same time James muttered. "At least Lily won't be mad."

Sirius shook his head, but did not comment further. They would learn better tomorrow, but for tonight, it was best to let them think they were right and get some sleep.

…

Alex stormed into the common. "We don't want Evans mad at us," she muttered in a nasty imitation of James. "Why does he care anyway?" She asked Mali Bex's blue Somali kitten "She hates him. **I'm **his friend; he should care whether **I'm** mad at him, and whether some snob who thinks he's worthless is upset. Besides she's always mad at him for something," Alex growled under her breath. "But **NO** we can't upset precious Lily. She's so smart and good and pretty and perfect," Mali cocked her head and blinked. "I know! I am just as smart as she is," Alex sat next to Mali on the cushy red couch. "I just need to prove it," Mali purred and rubbed her head against the books in Alex's lap. "Mali you're a genius," The cat gave her an 'I know I am' look before curling into a ball next to her.

…

Alex spent the rest of the night working on her transformation. Nothing made her willing to study like an insult to her pride. So the guys thought Lily was more important than Alex was. Well she would show them otherwise. She was Alexandria Silvana Procyon Scalacchi, but more importantly she was Alex, the girl who would scheme and prank with James and Sirius, who could make Remus laugh when he was it his most somber mood. She was the girl who helped Peter with his homework even if she was not willing to do her own. She was their friend, and she was not about to let some snobby hypocritical teacher's pet be more important to her guys than she was.

At that moment knowing exactly whom she was and what she wanted Alex focused. She closed her eyes and concentrated so hard she lost awareness of anything around her she was only conscious of herself. Just when she was starting to believe she had failed, again she felt something in her changing. Her body began to shift, almost as if she'd become clay and someone was molding her into a different shape.

Alex relaxed and let the change happen. She felt her bones reshaping themselves. Her hands curled into paws, her skull became more elongated and her ears shifted to a higher point on her head. Even her teeth changed, becoming narrower and sharper. Something she soon realized was a tail had extended from the base of her spine.

When it was over and her body finished reshaping, Alex opened her eyes. If she had still been in human form, she would have gasped. Her vision was amazing. She could make out every detail in the dim fire lit room better than she could in broad daylight. The colors she perceived were different too. Her world was suddenly colored differently too. The shades were less vibrant than before.

Her nose twitched as a breeze tickled her whiskers, and her ear stirred to the sound of movement.

'_I'm a cat.' _She realized turning to look at Mali the origin of the sound. The kitten was staring at her with timid curiosity.

…

Alex spent a little while exploring the common room with her new senses, but eventually she realized that while becoming an Animagus was great and she'd be able to accompany Remus at the next full moon it meant nothing if she couldn't get back into her human form.

By the time Alex did figure out how to morph back the sun was rising, and the excitement of her success had turned in to exhaustion. She went upstairs, crawled into bed, and shut her eyes hoping to salvage a couple hours sleep.

What felt like seconds later, Bex was shaking her awake, "Alex, wake up."

Alex groaned and pushed Bex away, but she sat up. All the other girls in the dorm were watching her.

"Are you okay?" Bex asked. "Normally you're the first one up; it's not like you to over sleep."

Alex rubbed her head. "I don't know. My head hurts. Maybe I'm coming down with something."

Lily made a disbelieving noise, but looked away when Alex and Bex glared. Her friend Mary, a small and sweet blonde haired muggle-born, smiled apologetically at Alex. Despite the fact that Mary hung out with Lily, Alex really didn't have issues with her. She had saved Mary from Slytherin bullies a couple times. The girl was too nice for her own good and had trouble speaking up for herself.

Alex smiled back halfheartedly, whether she liked Mary or not she was not in the mood to put up with people. She got out of bed, grabbed her stuff and headed out to use the shower. On the way, she ran into Chelsea the only other fifth year Gryffindor girl.

"Morning' sleepy head," Chelsea winked. Alex grunted and she laughed.

…

While the shower woke Alex up, it did not improve her mood much. She was sore, and still mad at the guys. _ 'If they'd just let me sleep in their room I wouldn't have felt the need to stay up all night studying' _While the remembrance of her success helped her feel a bit better in general it made her even angrier that she'd been kicked out. When she and Bex entered the great hall and she saw them all laughing and joking she scowled. Bex moved to go sit with them, as usual, but Alex stopped her.

"Let's sit with Chelsea," she said. Looking away as the guys saw them and waved.

Bex paused, she'd sat with Chelsea before, but Alex had never wanted to. She liked Chelsea, but found her friends shallow and annoying. Deciding it was probably best not to comment she followed Alex shrugging off the guy's confused looks.

"Well this is a wonderful surprise," Chelsea smiled as Alex sat next to her. The other girls that were sitting there stopped their conversations and stared. Chelsea gave them a look and they all went back to their gossip, sparing Alex only the occasional glance. Lilly who was a few seats away continued to stare, but Alex ignored her.

"Hey Chels" Bex greeted sitting on Alex's other side.

"Mornin' Bex" Chelsea said then asked Alex, "What'd the guys do?"

"Who says the guys did something?" she asked mocking innocence.

Chelsea and Bex laughed

"Sweetie," Chelsea put a hand on Alex's arm. "In the five years we've known each other you have never eaten with me."

"Sorry" Alex said.

"Don't be," Chelsea shook her head. "I don't mind. You have your reasons," she said knowingly.

"Yeah," Bex smirked at Alex. "You and the guys are like this," she crossed her fingers.

"I thought we were," Alex said glumly.

Bex patted her shoulder. "What happened?"

…

Alex explained the events of the night before, leaving out what it was they had been studying and her success at becoming an Animagus.

"Well Lily would have gotten you in trouble," Bex whispered, being her usual reasonable self. "She was really mad last night."

"It's not her job to tattle on me," Alex protested.

"That's not how she sees it," Chelsea explained. "She's a prefect, so it's her job to keep you from breaking rules."

Alex glared at her plate. "There's nothing wrong with breaking a rule if it doesn't hurt anybody," she said. "Besides, you're missing the point. It's not Lily I'm mad at."

"We know," Chelsea reassured her.

Bex nodded "I'm just saying the guys' reasons are understandable."

"No they're not!" Alex snapped. "Why should they care about getting in trouble with Lily? They never care about getting in trouble with teachers."

"Remus does," Bex pointed out.

"Sure, sometimes, but James doesn't, Sirius doesn't. They pull all sorts of pranks with me and _enjoy_ getting in trouble. So why does it matter that Lily would get mad. What makes her so special? She's bossy and full of herself."

Bex and Chelsea exchanged glances.

"What!" Alex snapped.

"Alex are you sure you're not just jealous of Lily?" Chelsea asked.

"Positive."

Bex shook her head. "I think you are. You're jealous because she's got the guys attention, and you don't like it. You're used to being the only girl in their lives."

"That's not true. You're in their lives."

"Not in the same way," Bex told her. "They've always been closer to you, they listen to you. You're not used to them caring about another girl's opinion."

Alex glanced down the table to where the guys sat. She glared and her got knots in her stomach when she saw Lily was now standing there. She was talking to Remus who was smiling as he spoke back. James was ruffling his hair and trying to get her attention, even Sirius had straightened his customary slouch.

Alex hated thinking that Bex might be right, but jealousy might explain why she was so angry at Remus for laughing at something Lily said, or why she wanted to slap the goofy grin off James' face. It would give a reason for the heart-ache she felt as Sirius casually looked Lily up and down. Alex shook her head. Whether she was jealous or not didn't matter.

"I'm just mad that they were concerned with her thoughts over mine," Alex reasoned. "She hates James and Sirius and blames Remus for their unruliness, and yet they pick not making her angry over me. I'm their friend and have been for years."

Chelsea shrugged. "They're guys, and face it she's gorgeous, what do you expect."

"For my friendship to be more important than some pretty girl," Alex said. "That's reasonable right?"

"It is," Bex nodded.

…

Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter sat under their usual tree that afternoon after classes. Alex still hadn't come to join them. She hadn't even spoken to them all day. She'd sat next to Bex or Chelsea in all the classes she had with them and on her own in those she didn't.  
>Sirius had tried to talk to her at lunch, but she'd just ignored him. Bex and Chelsea had given him sympathetic looks but they didn't say anything either.<p>

"She's overreacting," James complained. "Is it really that big a deal we didn't want her sleeping in our dorm?"

Remus looked up from his book. "We've never kicked her out before," he said. "She's used to being treated as one of us."

"She **is** one of us," Sirius corrected

"Never said she wasn't mate," James said.

"No but we treated her like she wasn't when we made her leave. "Sirius told him. "**I **knew she was gonna be mad."

"Why did you make her leave?" Peter asked for the millionth time.

"Oh come on Peter you **know** why," Sirius said.

Peter continued to look confused until Remus took pity on him. "You remember the scene before DADA on Monday?" Peter blushed and nodded. "That's part of it."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "The other part is that Remus takes being a prefect too seriously and James fancies Evans."

"So?" James said.

"So that shouldn't matter," Sirius said "Alex is our mate; you can't just blow her off to make some girl fancy you."

James stood up angrily. "Lily is not just some girl!"

"She's still not as important as Alex!"

"Oh stop it you two!" Remus snapped, actually putting down the book. "Yelling at each other is not going to make Alex talk to us again."

Sirius made a surrendering gesture with his hands "I'm just saying. If we hadn't kicked her out we wouldn't be in this situation."

Remus gave him a skeptical look. "Would you have been comfortable with her sleeping in your bed?"

"I don't know," Sirius frowned. "Maybe, probably, she's still just Alex."

"Maybe Sirius is right," James said. "Maybe we just made a big deal out of nothing. So Alex is a girl. Not really new information."

Remus nodded "True, though I'm still not sure she should be staying in our room."

James gave him a mischievous look "Remus, my dear friend, when has you're not being sure stopped us before?"

"Never," he answered. The others smiled.

"So how are we going to get Alex to talk to us again?" Peter asked.

"The only way we can," James said.

"By groveling like the pathetic jerks we are," Sirius finished.

Remus laughed, "A little sucking up probably wouldn't hurt either."

Thanks for reading.


	4. Quidditch Tryouts and Kitchen Escapades

Double Double Toil and Trouble A Marauders Tale

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the Marauders, or Hogwarts. However, Alex, Nicole, and the other original characters in this story plus the story itself are mine._

4: Quidditch Tryouts and Kitchen Escapades

Alex's next couple of weeks at Hogwarts were good ones. The guys had apologized for kicking her out of their room and she was talking to them again. She was still a little upset about why they had kicked her out, but figured them apologizing for the actual act was good enough.

The first thing she did after they had made up was show them her Animagus form. They were thrilled and inspired, and after a weekend's worth of hard training, they were annoyed_—"It's all about…" "Alex if you say 'focus' one more time I'll kill you myself"—_ but successful. James was the first to get it. He became an antlered stag. Sirius followed him by a couple of hours, transforming into a large black dog. It took Peter the longest, but finally after hours of work he managed to transform into a plump little rat.

After this accomplishment, the marauders could not focus on much of anything. Alex was yelled at more times than she could count for daydreaming in class; even Remus was having difficulty paying attention. As the full moon approached their nervous excitement grew, they would spend hours huddled in their corner of the common room discussing plans in whispered voices. Remus still voiced his doubts, but the others would not have any of it.

"Moony relax," James told him. "We're not going anywhere but the shack."

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Besides, James and Sirius will be able to keep you in check, somewhat. Werewolves are only supposed to be harmful to people."

"What if I still know you're people?" Remus asked his voice so quiet they had to lean in too hear him. "I'm not myself when I…" he shuddered

Alex put her hand over his on the table. "Which is exactly why we're doing this," she said. "We've taken precautions Remus. If things go bad we can get out of there faster than you could blink."

Remus nodded, though he still did not look entirely sure.

Sirius stood and stretched. "Well we'd better get to bed," he said.

James nodded in agreement. "Yeah we want to be well rested for tomorrow."

Alex yawned, "What's tomorrow?"

The boys gave her quizzical looks. "Quidditch tryouts," James said, as Alex was getting up. She stumbled and swore.

"I completely forgot," she groaned, pulling away from Sirius, who had steadied her.

"We gathered as much," Sirius teased.

"Relax, Lexi," James said. "You'll do great."

"You always do," Sirius said, smiling at her.

"Thanks mate," said Alex, punching Sirius' arm affectionately. "You too," she yawned again.

"Alright, bed time," James said pointing to the girls dormitories. "Get."

Alex rolled her eyes. "I'm not the dog James," she said. "That would Mr. Fluffy Tail over here," she stood on her tiptoes to ruffle Sirius's hair. He scowled at her. Everyone knew Sirius hated people messing with his hair. Alex was the only person who could do so without more than a glare as punishment. Like always, she laughed it off.

"Night boys," she said, winking at them before sauntering up the stairs.

"Damn," James said, and Sirius gave a low whistle.

"Come on lover boys," Remus teased.

"Like you weren't thinking it," Sirius said as they headed up to their room.

"He's a pinball wizard. There's got to be a twist," Alex sang and danced her way down to the Quidditch pitch with Sirius walking beside her. James was already there.

"I think someone had too much sugar this morning," Sirius said, as Alex fell onto her butt. She had been spinning in circles and apparently gotten too dizzy.

She gasped. "Listen here Furry Britches," she said from her position on the ground. "There is no such thing as too much sugar."

"If you say so," said Sirius, pulling Alex to her feet.

"I do say so," Alex insisted. Sirius laughed.

Alex continued to sing and dance until they reached the field where James and was waiting for them.

"Good you're here," he said. "Hurry up and get changed. We're just waiting for Lauren and Jones."

"Aye aye captain," she saluted before dancing her way to the locker room.

James gave Sirius a stern look. "How much sugar did you let her have on her waffles this morning?"

"Let her? Like I could have stopped her if I wanted to," Sirius said also heading toward the dressing rooms. "Besides," he called back to James. "When is a hyper Alex ever a bad thing? She'll probably kill today."

Sirius was right. Alex was on fire all day. She and Sirius had become the team's Beaters again, James, Lauren, and Colin Jones (a seventh year that was surprisingly not bitter about James being captain) were the Chasers, Chelsea shocked everyone and became the team's new Keeper, and Jackson Bingham 4th year, was their returning Seeker.

"We're going to have the best season ever!" Alex said happily, as they returned to the castle. "Isn't that right Sirius?" she slugged his arm.

"Ouch!" he winced, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him. "It's not bad enough that you hit me with the bludger now you have to go punching me as well?"

"Are you still griping about that? I was supposed to knock you off your broom. That was the point of the drill," said Alex. "It's not my fault you weren't willing to hit a girl."

"We were the last two left," Sirius said. "You didn't have to knock me off anymore."

"I had to teach you a lesson," Alex insisted.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Okay Alex lesson learned. I won't ever be nice to you again."

Alex laughed.

"Oh yeah right," James said. "You couldn't handle one day of her being mad at you. You'd never be able to alienate her completely."

"And you could?" Alex asked him, attempting to sound teasing, but she could not help but look a little offended.

"Of course not," James stated simply. "You're my star Beater, and I'd miss your random dancing too much."

"Good," Alex grinned. "I'm glad **someone** appreciates my dancing," she glared at Sirius.

"I have no problems with your dancing," he told her. "It's your singing that bothers me," he laughed, barely ducking in time to dodge the slap Alex had aimed for the back of his head.

"There is nothing wrong with my singing," she claimed.

Sirius smirked at her. "You just keep telling yourself that."

"I will," Alex affirmed, glaring.

"Play nice you two," said James. "I need you alive."

"He was insulting my singing!" Alex whined, as Sirius said. "I don't think it's possible for her to play nice."

Alex stared at him. "Oh I can play nice," she said giving him an alluring look, "Just not with you."

Sirius had no witty response, much to Alex's delight, and they spent the rest of the trip up to the Gryffindor tower in silence as Sirius and James pondered their most recent glance at this side of Alex they had never seen before.

These thoughts were set aside however when they reached the common room. A group of giggling fourth year girls was standing just inside waiting for Sirius. They swarmed him as her crawled through the portrait hole.

"We saw you at tryouts today," one said. "You were amazing," As the others sighed their agreement Sirius glanced at Alex over their heads. She rolled her eyes at him and then joined Bex and Remus by the fire.

"Enjoy the attention mate," James said patting Sirius on the back. He then ruffled his hair and walked up to Lily who was doing her homework in the corner where the Marauders usually sat to scheme. Sirius saw Alex scowl at this before his attention was fully on the girls around him.

"What does he see in her?" Alex asked, watching James smile charmingly at Lily. She wasn't falling for it and appeared to be telling him to go away. "She's—"

"A bossy know it all," Remus sighed. "So you've mentioned Alex… Multiple times."

"I'm sorry," said Alex. "I just can't stand that about her. She doesn't deserve his attention."

"Who does deserve his attention?" asked Bex. "You?"

Alex glared at her. "Don't go twisting my words around. I didn't say I was interested in having his attention…" she said, "because I'm not," she added as Bex opened her mouth to speak. "I just wish that the girl he does fancy was a bit more appreciative, and less of a control freak."

Bex sighed heavily.

"What?" Alex snapped.

"I don't think you're addressing the real problem here," Bex told her, ignoring Alex's strong glare. "Say I believe that you're telling the truth and you don't fancy James—"

"I **don't **fancy James," Alex growled, getting frustrated.

"Well you're obviously jealous of his attraction to Lily," Bex persisted.

"No," Alex said. "I don't like his attraction to Lily because I don't like Lily. I'd feel the same if you took an interest in someone I didn't get on with."

"Last year I dated David Rushforth and you didn't seem to care."

"The Ravenclaw with the stuttering problem? Who said I hated him?" Alex asked.

"Alright bad example," Bex admitted. "But I still think you're jealous."

"Urgh!" Alex groaned clenching her fists in anger. "Moony will you talk some sense into her!"

Remus watched Alex carefully. "I think Rebecca may have a point," he said. "You don't seem upset about all the girls hovering around Sirius, and you certainly don't like any of them," Remus pointed over her shoulder to where Sirius was enthusiastically telling the fourth years a story about a prank he had once pulled with James.

Alex was sure she'd been a part of it too, but he seemed to be leaving that out. Her stomach did a flip as she watched, and she suddenly felt like her head would explode any minute. _'Thanks Remy,' _she thought sarcastically _'that really cleared things up. I feel so much better. I'm glad to see that both of my best mates have traded me in for pretty girls.'_

Aloud she said. "I'm not happy about it if that's what you're suggesting."

"It's not," Remus said calmly.

Bex nodded. "We just think you need to give some thought towards your feelings about James."

That was Alex's breaking point. She stood up, no longer caring if she made a scene. "What feelings?" she shouted. "There are no feelings therefore there is no thought to give! **James **is my friend. **Sirius **is my friend. WE ARE JUST MATES! That's the end of it, so stop suggesting otherwise!" Alex stormed out of the common room ignoring Bex and Remus calls to stop her and Lily's petulant reminder that students were not allowed to wander the castle after dark.

Alex did not know where to go. She meandered around the seventh floor for a while, before deciding she would visit the kitchens. She had just started down a flight of stairs when she heard hurried footsteps behind her.

"I can't believe you made her mad again," she heard Sirius say from around the corner.

"It wasn't on purpose," Remus protested.

"I should hope not!" James exclaimed and they turned the corner now in the hallway above Alex. She could see them as they came closer, but they didn't seem to be aware of her.

"If she's angry at me for what you said…" Sirius let the threat hang.

'_I'm not' _Alex considered saying. _'I'm mad at you for the same thing I was last time: Choosing those slutty girls over me, your mate.' _She thought better of it though. They would take that as a sign that she had feelings for Sirius other than just friendship, same way Bex and Remus had with James. She would just go down to the kitchens, get a snack, let off some steam and when she saw them tomorrow act as if nothing had happened. Yeah that would work.

She turned to head down the stairs before James, Sirius, and Remus found her, and ran right into Colin Jones. He caught her and somehow managed to keep them both from falling down the stairs.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Alex muttered, trying to keep her voice down so the guys wouldn't hear.

"That's alright," said Colin as he released her. "I didn't even realize you were there. It's just as much my fault as it is yours," He smiled at her.

Alex smiled back nervously looking up at him. Even though he stood a step below her, he was still a good two inches taller than she was. His eyes were a clear blue and his almost curly hair was dusty brown in color. He was definitely one of the best-looking guys in the entire school.

Colin just continued to watch her, as she stared dumbly back at him.

"Well, um," Alex stuttered trying to regain her composure. "I should probably…" She pointed down the stairs past him.

"Oh of course…" Colin stepped aside so she could pass. Surprisingly he seemed just as flustered as she was.

"Sorry again," she said as she continued down the stairs.

"No worries," he said, and then, "So where are you going, if you don't mind my asking?"

Alex turned back to look at him wondering if he would get her in trouble. He was the Head Boy, it was a wonder he had not already punished her for being out of bed.

"I promise I won't get you in trouble," he said as if he would read her mind.

She laughed. _'What the hell,' s_he thought _'I could use the company.' _"I was on my way down to the kitchens for a snack, and maybe to hassle the house elves for a bit of butter beer. Care to join?"

Colin looked impressed. "You know how to get into the kitchens?"

"Of course," Alex smirked. "Where do you think the guys and I get all that food when we throw our crazy parties?"

"Never really thought about it," he admitted, but agreed to join her.

They spent the walk down to the kitchens discussing Quidditch, and Gryffindor's chances at winning the cup.

"I was worried," Colin admitted. "That with both Ward and Bennett leaving our team this year would suffer. Instead, I think we are actually better. Potter's sister is a good flyer."

"Not a bad shot either," Alex said. "And Chelsea… I had no idea she'd ever played Quidditch, but she's outstanding,"

"Indeed," Colin agreed.

Alex smiled; it was surprisingly easy to talk to Colin. Apart from the Marauders, most guys that talked to her recently just kind of stared dumbly or tried too hard to make conversation.

They reached the fruit bowl painting that was the entrance to the kitchen.

"We're here," Alex announced, smiling.

Colin looked around for a door. "You're joshing me," he said.

"I'm not," replied Alex. "Close your eyes."

"Really?" he asked and she nodded.

"I can't have you knowing the secret entrance," she told him. "You might tell someone else and they'll tell someone else and so on and so forth. Before you know it the entrance will no longer be secret."

"You don't trust me?" Alex grinned and shook her head. "Alright" He covered his eyes and Alex quickly tickled the pear. It giggled slightly and the painting swung open.

"Through here," Alex said, grabbing Colin by the arm and guiding him through the door. "Okay you can open your eyes now."

Colin did so and laughed. A swarm of house elves had gathered around them. He accepted a cream puff from one and said to Alex, "For some reason I thought this would be harder."

"They're house elves," Alex said. "What did you except?"

"Not for them to be offering me trays of every dessert imaginable," he confessed.

Alex laughed. "You don't have a house elf do you?" she asked.

Colin shook his head. "My mom prefers to do her own cooking and cleaning. Do you have one?"

"Three; Bitsy, Jeet, and Diz," Alex said. "If you ask they'll get you just about anything. Could we have two butter beers please?" she demonstrated, addressing the nearest elf.

"Of course miss," he said. "Anything for you sir?"

"Ham sandwich," Colin said uncertainly. The house elf nodded and disappeared. In less than a minute, he returned carrying the two butter beers, another house elf trailed behind him with a whole tray of sandwiches.

"I forgot to mention." Alex said, laughing at the look on Colin's face. "You have to be specific about how much you want. Otherwise they get carried away."

"I can see that," Colin said, chuckling slightly as well.

An hour and several butter beers later Alex and Colin had finished the sandwiches and decided that they should probably head back to the common room.

"I can't believe we haven't done this before." Alex said as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "We've been on the same Quidditch team for three years, and never had more than a five minute conversation until now."

Colin shrugged. "You've always had James or Sirius hovering around you."

"You don't like James and Sirius?" Alex asked, confused.

Colin laughed at the look on her face. "I've no problem with Sirius or James," he explained. "It's the glaring at me when I try to talk to you that I'm not fond of."

"Oh." Alex felt a bit giddy, but blamed it on the butter beer. "Well good night Colin."

"My friends call me Cole," he told her.

"I'm your friend?" Alex asked.

Cole smiled. "I'd like you to be."

Alex blushed she didn't know what to say. Luckily, she did not have to think of anything because the Fat Lady chose that moment to speak.

"Are you going to keep me up all night?" she asked angrily. "Or are you going to give me the password so I can go back to sleep?"

"Hobgoblin," Colin said, looking rather like he wanted to kill the portrait. They climbed through the portrait hole into the common room. There were still a few people up, Bex and the marauders (minus Peter) were sitting closest to the fire, and several sixth year girls were sitting at one of the couches, gossiping. These girls glared at Alex when they saw she had entered with Colin. Bex also gave her a funny look and nudged James, who had dosed off next to her. Sirius straightened as well and turned to look at Alex.

"I suppose you're going to join them." Cole said sounding disappointed.

Alex sighed. "I probably should," she told him. "Otherwise they'll think I'm angry at them."

"Are you?" he asked.

Alex ran a hand through her hair. "No… Yes… Maybe…" she sighed again. "I don't really know," she admitted. "Do you want to join us?"

"I'd better not," he said. "Your boyfriends don't look pleased."

That made Alex smile. Sirius and James certainly did not look happy. "Neither do your fan girls," she teased, "and they're not my boyfriends."

"And I couldn't care less about my fan girls. You sure you don't want to wander the castle a bit more?"

Alex smirked. "Good night Colin."

"Call me Cole," he insisted.

"Good night Cole," she corrected.

"Good night Alex," he responded. "Tell you're boyfriends I say hi."


	5. The First Moon

5: The First Moon

"Oh finally!" Alex groaned as she sunk into her favorite armchair in the Marauders corner of the Common Room. "I thought the weekend would never come."

"Don't get to relaxed," Bex said. "We have a lot of homework we should get started on."

Sirius and James groaned.

"Why?" Alex asked, "Do you have to spoil my mood? For a couple seconds there I was at peace with the world."

"I'm just being reasonable."

"She always does this," Sirius reminded Alex.

"Yeah," James agreed. "Whenever Moony's gone it's like she has to act for the both of them."

Alex shook her head. "This is worse than the both of them. Together they can be fun _and _reasonable. When she's trying to be both of them she cuts out the fun and double's the reasonable."

Bex sighed. "That's not true," she said without much energy. "I'm plenty of fun."

"Of course you are." Sirius told her soothingly patting her arm. "Just not when Remus leaves."

"Where is he this time?" she asked, looking concerned.

"At St. Mungo's," James said. "His grandmother's sick. It doesn't look good."

Bex's expression went from concerned to puzzled. "Didn't his grandmother die two years ago?"

Alex glared evilly at James. "He has two grandmothers Bex," she said.

"Of course," said Bex, but she still looked a bit suspicious.

They all sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes before Alex spoke.

"Let's plan our next exploit!" she suggested.

Everyone laughed, and started suggesting different pranks they could pull.

That night Alex, Sirius, James and Peter studied in the common room waiting for everyone else to go to bed. Bex had given them a strange look when they had told her they were actually going to finish all the work they'd been assigned, but she went up to bed none the less.

A few other stragglers were also trying to finish as much work as possible so they could enjoy the rest of their weekend.

Finally, the last person ascended the dorm stairs leaving Alex and the boys alone in the dim firelight. As soon as they were out of earshot, James pulled out his invisibility cloak and Alex prodded Peter, who had fallen asleep on his transfiguration essay, awake. He blinked groggily, then returned Alex's grin. It was time.

Peter and Alex could change into animal form in the common room. No one would give a second thought to a cat chasing a rat through the castle, but James and Sirius were much more conspicuous when they transfigured. Instead, they followed under the invisibility cloak until they could hide safely in the trees at the edge of the forbidden forest. There they too took animal shape and trotted off to the Whomping Willow.

Alex had always loved being outdoors at night. The air was cool and refreshing on your skin, and you could gaze up at the stars. As a cat, the feeling was the much more enjoyable. She was a nocturnal hunter, so this was her terrain. With her night vision, she could see all sorts of things she would have missed as a human and the smells and sounds that drifted past were alternately pleasing and distracting. She had to stop herself from pouncing on Peter every time he squeaked or moved closer to her and she avoided Sirius, in case he had a similar reaction to her. Eventually she just ran slightly ahead of the others, to give poor frightened Pete some space (his whimpering had gotten steadily worse the longer she was near him) and because she enjoyed the feel of the wind in her fur.

When they reached the Whomping Willow, under which the tunnel to the shrieking shack was located, the four Animagi paused, just outside of the vicious trees reach. Peter, who was the smallest and most likely to go unnoticed by the tree, scurried over and pressed the knot above the tunnels entrance. This effectively froze the Willow, so the other three could make their way safely to the trunk of the Willow.

Alex had been a bit concerned that the tunnel would have been too small for James to fit through in animal form, but he got through with little trouble so long as he kept his head down. (Otherwise, his large antlers would bang against the ceiling of the tunnel.)

After what seemed like an eternity of trotting along through the tunnel a sound reaching Alex's ears over the sound of Peter's squeak's— that were getting more than a little annoying. Alex twitched her ears trying to figure out what the sound was. She was a little shocked at how she instinctually knew exactly how to do this, it was almost as if she had always been a cat. The sound was a distant howl— proof that they were close to the end of the tunnel and Remus. It was such a miserable sound that Alex immediately took off running as fast as her feline legs could take her. Sirius let out a bark behind her as the boys followed suit.

When they reached the "Shrieking Shack" as the Hogsmeade villagers called it (Alex could understand why from all the noise her friend was making.) the group paused. This was it, they all realized, there was no turning back after this.

With a very authoritative nod, stag James promptly strutted into the house, and reminded Alex why he was their ringleader. Sirius, as always was quick follow James into the thick of things. Alex steeled herself for what she was sure would be an unpleasant sight, and followed Sirius, Peter scurrying behind her.

She hadn't been wrong. It was both frightening and sad to see her friend huddled in the corner, bleeding and wailing to himself as his claws dug into his own flesh.

_Oh Remus,_ she thought wishing desperately that she could hug him.

When the wolf-boy noticed they were there, he growled loudly, his muscles bunching as if he were preparing to pounce, and for a moment Alex thought that he had realized they were human. Then Sirius stepped forward, sniffing the wolf hesitantly. Remus watched him warily for a moment before he too stepped forward and sniffed Sirius in return.

Alex and James took this as a sign and followed Sirius' lead, letting Remus sniff them as well. Peter stayed back, though Alex did not blame him. He was small enough that wolf-Remus could swallow him whole.

Once the ice was broken, interacting was almost normal for the marauders (apart from the fact that they were animals). After they had all gotten appropriately used to each other's scents, they went about exploring the shack.

Peter found a nice empty hole in the wall, evidence that mice had once lived here. Alex was certain that there weren't any left. She couldn't smell any, and it was likely that Remus' monthly visits had scared them away.

With nothing to chase, Alex found a nice cozy spot on the dusty old mattress, and watched Sirius and James take turns playing tug-a-war with Remus.

Eventually though the group grew bored and began to eye the exit hopefully. Sirius let out a whiney bark clearly want to go outside. James shook his antlered head and Sirius' request. Alex agreed, they had promised Remus they would stay in the shack, at least for the first night. So, pushing any thoughts of the outdoors aside, Alex lunged off the bed at James, starting a strange and entertaining game of tag.

When the first gray beams of sunlight began to shine through the boarded up windows the marauders knew it was time to return to the castle.

The made the trek back in silence, apart for an occasion bodiless yawn from James or Sirius beneath the cloak, until they had reached the dorms. Alex had decided to sleep in Remus's bed, so she wouldn't wake the girls.

"We did it guys," she said as she collapsed into bed, "Our first full moon." And with that she was asleep, leaving the guys to smile at the thought. They had done it.

…

Alex was glad it was the weekend, so she could sleep in. She was not the only one either. It was nearly one in the afternoon by the time the marauders stumbled down the boys' dormitory staircase into the common room.

"How late were you up last night?" Bex asked them as they filled the armchairs around her.

"Late," Alex said, leaning forward and resting her head on the table Bex was using to do her homework.

"We practically pulled an all-nighter finishing all our homework," Sirius said, as he sprawled sideways across his chair, using the arm of Alex's as a footrest.

"I'm not lifting another book again!" Alex exclaimed.

Bex smirked, "I guess that means you won't help me with my Transfiguration essay."

"You guessed right," Alex said, "Get James to help you. He's better at Transfiguration anyway."

James shook his head at Bex's questioning look. "Sorry Stones I'm not your man. First of all Alex's allegation is completely false, second I need food."

"Food!" Alex exclaimed raising her head. "I want pancakes!"

"Well then," James said, "I do believe it is time for a trip to the kitchens."

Alex frowned at this thought. "But that involves movement," she complained.

"Well if you'd rather starve," Peter said, he was known to be rather irritable when he hadn't eaten.

Alex pouted, "Carry me?" she asked James who shrugged and leaned over slightly so she could climb on to his back from her chair.

"You and Remus could do the homework together," Sirius suggested to Bex as he stood. "He should be coming back this evening."

"Or you could ask Evans." James said. Bex nodded, watching Alex to see what she thought of the proposal. It appeared she had not heard, or was doing a fine job of ignoring it, as she was waving to Colin who had just climbed through the portrait hole.

"Morning Cole," she said cheerfully.

Cole laughed. "Afternoon Alex," he replied.

"Since when were you two on first name basis?" Sirius asked Alex as the group walked down to the kitchens. "I didn't realize you guys were that close."

Alex shrugged. "He is on our Quidditch team, and he's nice enough, funny too. What's wrong?" she asked at James frown. "Isn't it a good thing that I'm getting to know my teammates better?"

"You could get to know me better," Sirius joked, though he also had a slightly sour expression on his face.

"Mate if I knew you any better I think we'd be the same person." Alex teased

"Alex and Sirius in one body," James smirked, "I don't know if the world could handle that.

"Can we hurry up?" Peter whined, "I'm hungry."

Alex, Sirius, and James all laughed, and forgot the conversation about Cole for the time being.

It wasn't long before the subject came up again, though. Cole and Alex continued to greet each other as they passed each other in the hallway, and would small talk in the common and locker rooms when the opportunity arose.

Alex was beginning to understand what Cole had meant about James and Sirius glaring. He couldn't come within five feet of her without a harsh look from her friends. He wasn't the only guy either. Alex found their overprotectiveness somewhat sweet at first. Then it just became annoying. They even scared away poor William Deamer, a Hufflepuff from the year below that was asking Alex a question about Runes (It was well known she was the best in school at the subject) with their death glares.

"If you're not careful your faces might freeze that way," she told them, grabbing her book bag and half-eaten sandwich and heading off to (oddly enough) Ancient Runes. Thankfully it was a class neither James nor Sirius was in. Remus was though, and he was quick to follow her out of the Hall.

"We can leave now," Remus joked, "I wasn't all that hungry anyway."

Alex smiled, and offered Rem a portion of her sandwich. "You didn't have to follow me," she told him.

"And let you walk to class unescorted, James and Sirius would never let me hear the end of it."

Alex sighed. "Are they trying to make it so no one else will talk to me?" she wondered.

Remus considered this for a moment. "I don't think so. I don't think they realize their doing anything wrong."

"Oh no," Alex rolled her eyes. "Scaring away shy little fourth years, what's wrong about that?"

"Yes, well that was a bit extreme," Remus admitted, "but can you really blame them for the others."

"Yes," Alex said.

Remus chuckled, but then his expression grew serious again. "Remember that as guys they understand what most other guys want from you." That got another eye roll from Alex, and his next comment got him the silent treatment for the rest of the day. "It's not like you don't glare at the girls they talk to."

…

Alex did give her conversation with Remus some thought, a whole evenings worth of thought in fact. Was she that bad? She wondered as she sat among the others by the fire, doing her homework and not really listening as people, mostly Bex tried to gain her attention. Alex considered asking her, as Bex did have more experience in the guy's department. (At least when it came to dating and the like) In the end, she was too scared that this would lead her into dangerous this-is-all-about-you-fancying-James territory, and without Bex or the guys to turn to Alex only had one person left to talk to...

Sorry this took longer than usual; I had to work this weekend. Anyway, I didn't like this chapter as much… Not sure why. You should let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading,

TH


	6. Nicole

**Double Double Toil and Trouble A Marauders Tale **

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the Marauders, or Hogwarts. However, Alex, Nicole, and the other original characters in this story plus the story itself are mine._

_This chapter is written from Nicole's point of view because I wanted to show a little bit more of the other Scalacchi sister._

**6: Nicole**

Nicole sat on her favorite couch in the Slytherin common room writing her essay for DADA. It was far too easy. Nicole's best friend was sitting next to her fixing her hair in the mirror she'd enchanted to float in front of her. A strong-willed brunette with deep brown eyes, Acacia was beautiful and she knew it.

"I can't believe you're actually doing that stupid essay," Acacia said, glaring at the paper infront of Nicole. "I'm just gonna turn in the one I wrote in third year."

"I don't **have **mine from third year," Nicole said, rolling her eyes. "Why do you still have yours?"

"My parents are freaks and like to keep all of my work." Acacia grabbed the mirror and stuck it back into her book bag. "Then they'll pull them out and show off at family reunions if they're good, or use them as references in a lecture if they're not. 'Acacia Selwynn'" she mimicked her mother's strident voice. "'This is just like that time you got a P on your Transfiguration paper.'"

Nicole laughed "So how are you getting the paper from your mother?"

"Already taken care of," Acacia said, grinning. "Constance wrote home to Hiram. He agreed to send all of our essays from third year."

"Well I hope you don't end up needing all of them," said Nicole. "I don't want to learn absolutely nothing new. Especially since O.W.L's are this year."

"Ugh! Nicole, I have every teacher reminding me. I don't need you to do it too." Acacia groaned. "I'm just saying it'll be horrible if have to go into our exams not knowing half of the things we're expected to."

"She's got a point." Constance said, having just entered the common room, and hearing the tail end of their conversation. She was a year younger than them, and looked a lot like her sister except with lighter features. Instead of Acacia's chocolate colored Constance had hazel eyes that looked almost green in the right lighting. Her hair looked liked it had seen more sun than Acacia's.

"Okay fine." Acacia said. "It'll suck if we fail our owl's, but what do you intend to do about it?" she asked Nicole.

"Me?" Nicole was surprised. "Why do I have to do something about it?"

"You're the problem solver of the group." Acacia told her.

"What group?" Nicole asked. "There's just you me and you're little sister."

"And me!" an upset voice said from behind them. "In case you forgot."

"I didn't forget you Sable." Nicole assured her. "I just figured you were too busy snogging your boyfriend to care about grades."

"I resent that." Sable said bitterly. "I care about my grades, and so does Julian."

"Because the Dark Lord thinks you make a good pair." Nicole stated.

"So what?" Sable asked angrily. "We do make a good pair!"

Nicole sighed. She knew she would lose the argument. It was happening with so many these days it seemed. Friends that used to listen to her caring advice were now puppets of a charming manipulative wizard.

"You're right. You make a great pair." Nicole told her, and Sable's anger instantly faded. "It's just. Don't you think he's too old for you?"

Sable's brow furrowed. "Not really."

"He's 18." Nicole reminded her.

"Only just," Sable protested. "And I'll be 16 in a few months."

Nicole sighed. "Five months," she corrected, but dropped the argument. She didn't like fighting with her friends any more than she liked how easily they were manipulated. Last year Sable would never have been interested in Julian, even if he'd shown an interest in her which he probably wouldn't have. Julian and Sable may be the perfect couple on paper. Both were purebloods. He was the Quidditch captain and star pupil, and she was the socialite queen bee of Hogwarts, richer and more connected than any other student in the school, except perhaps Nicole and Alex, but she used her connections. In reality though they were not as perfect as they pretended they were.

Nicole stared into the enchanted fire as the other girls talked about something trivial. A year ago Nicole would have been excited to join them, now boys and when the first Hogsmeade weekend would be didn't seem as important.

A week before term had started she'd attended a meeting with Sable, Acacia, Julian, and several other Slytherins. They'd each received a coded message telling them they'd been invited to join an elite group. It had taken Nicole three whole days to crack. Codes and hidden messages had always been Alex's thing. Nicole preferred the "softer" magic's like Potions and Divination, but being just as stubborn as her sister Nicole refused to ask Alex for help.

When she did read the message she was not very surprised by the invite. There had been rumors all around the school that Voldemort was gathering more forces. He was preparing for something big. Most people wouldn't talk about it openly, but they still talked. Teachers had whispered conversations that were immediately stopped when a student was in the vicinity. Students stayed together even though the teachers had not mandated a buddy system, many avoided the Slytherin students, worried that anyone of them could turn out to be a future Death Eater. Some, mainly James and his friends, did the exact opposite. They went out of their way to stir up trouble with anyone they thought was too interested in the Darks Arts. A few were like Alex, in their own world; perfectly content believing things were no different than before.

Nicole sighed, some days she was jealous of her sister, other's she pitied her. Today was a pity day. Alex was so full of potential, but she was too blind to see what was going on around her. Her head was too high in the clouds to realize the battle on the ground, and she had the naïve belief that everyone could just get along. She didn't seem to see that her sister and her friends were on different sides in the same fight. When Voldemort started his war she'd be caught in the middle unprepared and defenseless.

"Nicole!" someone calling her name broke her from her thoughts

"Hey Reg," Nicole smiled at the younger boy as he walked over her. "How were Quidditch tryouts."

"Great, you're looking at Slytherin's new seeker!"

"Outstanding." Nicole beamed. "You'll finally get a chance to put that nice broom of yours to good use."

Regulas was smiling like crazy, as he nodded. "Alex wants to see you," he told her, and Nicole realized that his having spoken with Alex was as much a reason for his grin as the seeker position.

"Of course she does," Nicole rolled her eyes, more at Reg's behavior than her sister's sudden desire to talk to her. That Alex remained oblivious about the younger Black's crush was as amazing as her ignorance toward the coming war, and infinitely more amusing. "Well I better go see what she wants. If I keep her waiting too long she may blast the wall down looking for me."

The girls laughed, and Nicole and Regulas exchanged a look. None of their other friends new Alex well enough to know Nicole's joke could easily become reality.

To her benefit, though Alex was waiting patiently outside the Slytherin Common Room, staring solemnly at the floor.

'_Oh great', _Nicole thought,_ 'Why didn't Regulas tell me she was in a mood?' _She got her answer as Alex glanced up and saw her. Instantly there was a smile on her face.

"Ciao sorella," Alex greeted her sister in their fathers native tongue, her voice cheerful. Had Nicole not seen the glum look from before she would have never known anything was off.

"What's wrong?" Nicole asked, perhaps a bit harshly.

Alex seemed unfazed though, "What do you mean?" she asked brightly, which only bothered Nicole more.

This was very uncharacteristic of Alex; normally she was an open book. Alex hiding what she was feeling was just… not natural.

"Why are you in such a foul mood?"

Alex maintained her fake cheery demeanor for a few moments, and then she let out a sigh. "Is it that obvious?" she asked. "Or did your psychic twin radar go off?"

"There is no such thing as psychic twin radar," Nicole said.

"Says you," muttered Alex, being her usual three-year-old self.

Nicole rolled her eyes, "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you or can I get back to my homework?"

Alex blinked, "Let's go to the library," she suggested, "I can explain as we work."

This surprised Nicole, as did Alex's knowledge of the library's inner workings. Little did she know that Alex had spent hours in here pouring over books on complex transfiguration with the other marauders as they had struggled to become Animagi.

"Pick your poison!" Alex said holding up her Potions book in one hand and her Transfiguration in the other. Nicole picked Transfiguration, figuring that if she got Alex's help on it she may actually get an E for once.

As the twins worked on their papers Alex explained what had been happening recently with James and Sirius and what Remus had said.

"And you're talking to me about this instead of Rebecca because?"

"She thinks I fancy James," Alex said, revising a line of Nicole's essay.

"Do you?"

Alex thought about this for a second and sighed, "I don't know. I've never fancied anyone before."

This really didn't surprise Nicole. Alex was always too busy with James and Sirius to notice any other guys around her. It explained why Regulas and most of the other males in the school who would jump at the chance to date Alex remained secret admirers. The poor guys simply couldn't compare to her friends.

"So what do you think?" Alex asked, "Am I being stupid and jealous? Or are Bex and Remus bonkers?"

"Well your friends are definitely bonkers," Nicole said, "but that's beside the point. As for the James and Sirius situation, I think you are right. They're being a bit harsh on the other guys."

"What about what Remus said?" Alex wondered, "And Bex's accusation that I fancy James?"

Nicole sighed and thought about it, "Well Remus told you that you glare at girls they talk to, yes?" Alex nodded. "Can you remember anyone specific?"

"Mostly just Sirius' fan club, and Lily Evans."

Nicole laughed, "Well of course you were glaring at them. Any sane person in the school can't stand the fan girls, and by my understanding you and the Evans girl hate each other."

"That's exactly right!" Alex exclaimed earning her a glare from the neurotic librarian. "Sorry," she said and continued in a quieter voice. "That's what I thought, but Remus and Bex were so insistent I wasn't sure any more."

Nicole rolled her eyes and gathered her things. "You know it occurs to me that Remus and Rebecca aren't the ones you should be talking to," she said, "Nor am I. Talk to James and Sirius, if they know what they're doing is bothering you it's likely they'll stop. It goes the other way too, it should be James and Sirius decision if you're being too harsh not Remus'." Nicole left her sister to ponder what she had said.

…

"What did your sister want?" Acacia asked as Nicole entered their dormitory.

"Just to talk," Nicole said as she dropped her book bag and collapsed onto her bed. "She needed my sisterly advice on some boy drama."

"Uh oh, trouble in paradise?"

Nicole laughed, "I'm sure by now they've rectified the situation and are planning ways to torture us evil Slytherins."

Acacia smiled. "Maybe they'll start hexing us in the hallway, we'd definitely be ready for our Defense O. if we have to defend ourselves from the troublesome trio twenty-four seven."

"Or we could just study," Nicole suggested, "It's much less dangerous."

"Ah come on Nicole. Live on the edge a little" Acacia said.

"You sound just like Alex," Nicole told her.

Acacia sighed, "If only my life were as perfect as hers, good grades, Quidditch stardom, and two guys that are hot as hell constantly vying for her attention. Who wouldn't want to be just like Alex?"

"Your right," Nicole said, "Who wouldn't want to be obnoxious and immature?"

"Point taken."

…

Hope you liked this chapter even if it was missing its usual dose of Sirius, James, and Cole. I promise all three will be heavily featured next chapter.

Thanks for reading.


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